Who invented the supermodel? Was it Gianni Versace when he started to employ the top editorial stars of the day in his runway shows? Was it Steven Meisel when he started to bulk-book The Trinity (Christy, Linda, Omi) month after month for every gig in sight? Maybe it was Gerald Marie and John Casablancas when they started to package the right girls dressed in the right clothes, staying at the right hotel at premium rates to the clients. Or was it the girls who took these opportunities as presented by Gianni and Steven and Gerald and ran like thieves with it all the way into history ( with stops off at The Fashion Cafe, The George Michael "Freedom" video and an aerobic video here or there).

There has been a lively discussion around the recent Inez and Vinoodh post that raised very smart questions about the chances a new generation of photographers have in breaking into the campaign market. That discussion has led to a flurry of calls to TI and let's just say if there IS indeed a recession looming, brands are bracing themselves for it by taking no chances. And when we say brands, its almost as if you have to start thinking of the current photography establishment as brands in and of themselves.
Think Meisel Inc. Testino Unlimited. Sims Corp. One Hiss Squader actually mused to me yesterday over lunch that , "If I were a blue chip photographer and I saw trouble coming, I would totally be locking down jobs with those mass market companies. I mean when the money runs out people might be buying fewer alligator handbags but I don't think Target or The Gap is going to be bouncing checks anytime soon"
Will that conventional wisdom hold up? You'd be surprised as to what some of the bigger names in the biz are lensing...on the down low.

In the meantime Testino Unlimited is shooting an All-Testino issue of German Vogue right this minute, including a Top 10 New Models edit with a short-list so spot-on I almost want to leak it. Almost lol.

I never thought I'd be reaching back to anything so recent as the work of stylist Jason Farrer as a reference, but here I am. I used to see JJ, as all his mates called him, around the clubs of NY and what I felt was a mixture of awe and envy because he was soooo NY. He wore sharkskin suits to hip-hop clubs and always had the best entourage. Jason Farrer's work was so clever in the way it absorbed all these very urban-Latino street elements and threw them up on the high wall of fashion. There was something of the NY graffiti master to his way of styling , which was to throw outfits together in a way that had a signature "tag" to it. Only JJ could drop it-just-like-that.

There WAS a reason why the cover dropped so late. My Milan mole just texted me 2 secs ago to say he saw a bound copy of the mag with GUINEVERE on the cover. Waiting for the first look!...In other tales of world domination, Missy Rayder is now officially on the board of IMG.

This is what the love of fashion can spawn. Our very devoted fashion contributer Max, has just outlined a veritable THESIS on directional fashion photographer Steven Meisel. Intense no? If Max does pull it off, this could well be a scholarly book sold in college bookstores worldwide. Make room Madonna!
The Imagist.

Everytime someone says "the next Tyson Beckford" I'm apt to roll my eyes. Beckford was a very unique moment where a visionary agent, a smart client and a multi-cultural zeitgest brewed a perfect booking storm.But looking at the slow build of Oraine Barrett's bookings over the past three years, TI senses a pattern building for this Jamaican school boy athlethe-turned-model. From Abercrombie and Fitch to amazing edits in Arena Homme + and September's Vogue Italia with Meisel, this young model is evolving very audaciously. It's only instinct but our model sixth sense is signalling an upcoming breaktrough moment for this male mannequin. Oraine is already looking very campaign ready in these new snaps Major's Jason Kanner sped over to us last night.